Outline

Objective

Choroidal ciliary body melanomas metastasize mainly into the liver. Ultrasound and liver enzymes are used for screening and detection of metastatic disease. In a pilot study we demonstrated the significance of MIA as a potential serological tumor marker in primary and metastatic uveal melanoma [1].

Methods

In a prospective study we collected serum samples of 305 patients with uveal melanoma. 20 of these patients (6,6%) had overt metastatic disease. Eight of them developed it during follow-up.

Results

The mean serum concentration of MIA in the 285 patients without overt metastases was 6,72 ng/ml, whereas the mean serum concentration of MIA in the 20 patients with overt metastases was 13,03 ng/ml. The difference was statistically highly significant (p < 0,001). The patients who developed metastatic disease during follow-up showed a MIA of 5,61 ng/ml before and of 12,28 ng/ml after the development of metastases. This difference was also statistically highly significant (p < 0,001).

Conclusions

The statistically highly significant elevation of MIA serum levels in patients with metastatic disease from melanoma suggest a promising role as a serum marker for monitoring these patients.